Kenneth Uselton passes after long bout with cancer
by Ezequiel Gonzales
College of the Sequoias’ football program lost a dear friend Friday when running backs coach Kenneth Uselton passed away after battling cancer for almost a decade.
“I tell you what, he was one the toughest men that I’ve ever known.” COS head coach Roger Kelly said. “A normal person would have been taken a long time ago, but he fought it. He was a god person, a good friend and I will miss him.”
Uselton’s coaching career started in the early 1960s at Montgomery High in Santa Rosa. He had stints as a head coach at West Hills and Hartnell and also coached at San Jose State and in Finland before coming out of retirement to coach for Kelly the last four years.
Along the way, Uselton made a huge impression on players and coaches.
West Hills coach Mark Gritton coached with Uselton for one year, but that single year stands out for the former COS assistant.
“He was one of those guys that if I would’ve spent only one month around him, I would still have the same respect and admiration that I do now,” he said. “He was the type of person that would never ask a player to do something that he didn’t or hadn’t done before. He was a very unselfish individual.”
Lemoore High coach Andy Thornburg, Jr. was one of the players who Uselton touched during his lifetime.
“Both as a player and a coach, he was one of the most influential men in my life,” Thorburg, Jr. said. “He was the best man; in my wedding, and if he wouldn’t have taught me his work ethic, I wouldn’t be the man I am today.”
Kelly’s first encounter with Uselton was back in 1969 when he became head coach at Redwood and Uselton was established at West Hills.
“He didn’t know who I was, and I got into on of his offensive huddles, and he wanted to know what I was doing in his huddle. He found out who I was and let me stay,” Kelly recalled. “I was a young pup at the time and our friendship began then. I was lucky to be around someone of this knowledge.
“Kenny was a person that had no patience for anyone that didn’t want to spend the time for football. If you did, he would help you and go to the end of the earth for you if you wanted to play.”
If a player was willing to give his all to Uselton, he was willing to give it right back, say those he coached.
“As a friend, he was a man that would give you what ever you needed.” Thornburg, Jr. said. “[Former] players were always calling him for advice, and he would always give us a pep talk and get us back on track. He would literally give the shirt off his back if you needed him.”
On the field, Uselton’s teaching and honesty set him apart from many.
“It wasn’t his intelligence, but the way he was able to teach the game and that type of experience outweighed the knowledge,” Gritton said. “He was an outstanding teacher. He could adjust and was able to get his kids motivated to perform at a higher level.
“He wasn’t someone that demanded respect as much as the players and coaches felt like that they had to give him it.”
Donald Dorsey played for Uselton the past two years, gaining much from the veteran coach.
“He was straight-forward, that was his style,” Dorsey said. “His style helped me out a lot; he came at you like a real person and didn’t hide anything from me. He made me a stronger player.”
For Kelly, friendship was the strongest part of his relationship with Uselton.
“He’s a type of guy that you would go in the back alley with to protect you,” Kelly said. He would never let you down.”
Thornburg, Jr. said he hasn’t forgotten what his mentor taught him. “I’ve talked to my kids at Lemore about him,” he said. I used his teachings to this day and he has several of us out there carrying on his teaching to young players today.”
Uselton is survived by two daughters, Jeannie Warren and Alaine Uselton, a brother, Tom, and a grandchild. Services will be held at 10 a.m. at the Assembly of God Church in Visalia.